For tyme ylost may nought recovered be.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Lat take a cat, and fostre him wel with milk, And tendre flesh, and make his couche of silk, And let him seen a mous go by the wal; Anon he weyveth milk, and flesh, and al, And every deyntee that is in that hous, Swich appetyt hath he to ete a mous.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Desires can overshadow basic needs.
This quote by Geoffrey Chaucer illustrates how a creature, like a cat, can have its basic needs met—such as food and comfort—but will still be driven by its primal instincts and desires. It serves as a metaphor for human nature, suggesting that no matter how much we have in terms of comfort and wealth, our deeper desires and appetites might always lead us to pursue what we truly want, sometimes at the expense of what is readily available to us.
Themes
DesireAppetiteNatureNeedsComfort
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on human psychology, one might use this quote to illustrate how innate desires can influence behavior.
More from Geoffrey Chaucer
All quotes →For in their hearts doth Nature stir them so Then people long on pilgrimage to go And palmers to be seeking foreign strands To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands.
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If gold rusts, what then can iron do?
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Thus with hir fader for a certeyn space_x000D_ _x000D_ Dwelleth this flour of wyfly pacience,_x000D_ _x000D_ That neither by hir wordes ne hir face_x000D_ _x000D_ Biforn the folk, ne eek in her absence,_x000D_ _x000D_ Ne shewed she that hir was doon offence.
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Ther nis no werkman, whatsoevere he be, That may bothe werke wel and hastily.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
For oute of olde feldys, as men sey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe corn from yer to yere;_x000D_ _x000D_ And out of olde bokis, in good fey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe science that men lere.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
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